Football: Huge games to watch in South Jersey as playoffs near

Mark Trible and Josh Friedman review Week 7, look ahead to Week 8 and field questions from viewers. The show runs on facebook.com/sjgridirongang every Wednesday at 7 p.m.

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Cherokee's Jamar Dimanche runs the ball in for a touchdown during the 2nd quarter of Friday nights football game between Cherokee and Timber Creek played at Timber Creek High School. 09.15.17(Photo: Chris LaChall/Staff Photographer)Buy Photo

Skinny: The Chiefs’ offense scores roughly 31 points per outing and the Indians’ D allows five. Whichever offense can sustain its possessions holds a heavy advantage and likely gets a home game in the first round of the South Jersey Group 5 playoffs.

Skinny: Kargman came back last week after a shoulder injury kept him sidelined for most of three games … He tossed 279 yards worth of completions and six touchdowns in 58-0 blowout of Triton … Stanley King caught three of the scores, one more than he had all season … A win for Wilson likely wraps up the No. 2 seed in SJ Group 3 behind Timber Creek … Delsea’s strong triple-option attack continued to live up to its billing with 42 points on the road at Eastern last week … Crusaders have scored 42, 49 and 42 in three games after their Holy Spirit loss … Hannah and Borguet each scored twice against the Vikes … A Delsea win goes a long way for a first-round home game in SJ Group 3 … Crusaders took 23-19 decision last year when only three points were scored in the second half.

Skinny: Coach Nick Strom’s Irish reeled off 34 points in a row after a 7-0 first-quarter deficit to pound Seneca last week … Hillman continued his tear with 146 yards on 23 carries and two TDs … He’s now up to 1,016 on the year with 15 total scores … Rodney Vines also chipped in two runs for six from 38 and 58 yards … Spirit seeks a power-point boon with a victory, currently slotted in third in Non-Public Group 2 … Zamot ran for three scores and threw for two more in 60-33 triumph at Buena last week … Spartans score 40.4 per game and allow 20.3 … This one could be a shootout, determined by which defensive unit can make a key play or two … Irish scored 14 unanswered in the fourth quarter last season in Cherry Hill to claim a 28-22 win … Spirit put up 22 in a row prior to the final burst.

Skinny: Hermits enter with a two-game win streak in this series … Two TDs early sparked a 41-0 blowout in 2016 … Many components have changed since then … Hermits took down EHT last week, 21-7 and have alternated wins and losses by week the past five contests … First-year boss Pete Lancetta is no stranger to St. Joe … He coached for Wildcats’ boss Paul Sacco and went on to lead crosstown rival Hammonton for 26 years … In that span, Sacco held a 13-11-1 record against the Blue Devils and 13 of the 25 tilts were decided by a score or less … St. Joe is raring to go for this one, the loss of last season not forgotten in a bitter rivalry … No one’s shown any semblance of a formula to shut down the ’Cats all year … The fewest points they’ve scored all season came last week against Cedar Creek with 33 … No matter, they pitched a shutout to take care of the Pirates … That marked the fourth time they’d blanked a foe in 2017.

Other notable games:

No. 4 Rancocas Valley (7-0) at Camden (5-1), Friday, 6 p.m. – Panthers’ coach Dwayne Savage is a Red Devils’ alum and wants nothing more than a victory, which would probably put The High in great position for the No. 1 spot for SJ Group 2. RV, the likely top seed in SJ Group 5, allows 9.14 points per game. Camden allows 12.67.

Gloucester Catholic (5-1) at Pleasantville (5-1), Friday, 6 p.m. – Two years ago, these clubs were both 0-10 on the season, but have revived their programs. The Greyhounds are in great shape for an SJ Group 2 postseason berth with a win while the Rams’ shutout loss to Woodstown last week marked its first loss since Nov. 4 of 2016, a seven-game span.

No. 1 Timber Creek (6-0) at Williamstown (4-2), Friday, 7 p.m. – The mold fiasco down in Monroe Township pushed back Homecoming to this date – few would schedule the Chargers for such an affair. Last week’s come-from-behind triumph at Shawnee likely locked the Braves into the SJ Group 5 bracket while Creek and its 22-game win streak is a shoe-in to be atop SJ Group 3.

No. 11 West Deptford (6-0) at Cinnaminson (4-2), Friday 7 p.m. – Eagles’ coach Clyde Folsom thinks his team has a long way to go to be a championship-level team for SJ Group 2 and the Pirates just want to get in. A loss to West Deptford and a Pleasantville win would likely doom coach Mario Patrizi’s bunch but the outlook’s better than it was at 1-2. Cinnaminson’s shut out its last three opponents and had a bye week to prepare for the Wing-T. Last year’s affair was tight, a 14-6 Eagles’ win.

Gateway (5-1) at Burlington City (6-0), Friday, 7 p.m. – Like Gloucester Catholic and Pleasantville, few would have circled this one prior to the season but it’s been a renaissance campaign for both clubs. Jimmy Browne’s got 1,513 yards this season but the Gators’ defense has been staunch (7.5 points per game).

Paulsboro (5-1) at Florence (3-3), Friday, 7 p.m. – Hard not to like this one just for the coaches. The Flashes’ Joe Frappolli got his 300th win last time out against Maple Shade and Glenn Howard of the Red Raiders has 279 in his career. Florence is fighting for a spot in CJ Group 1. Paulsboro aims to get in tune for a shot at another sectional title in SJ Group 1.

Woodstown (3-3) at Schalick (4-2), Friday, 7 p.m. – The Cougars sit a spot behind the Wolverines in the SJ Group 1 power points. Schalick hoped to get out of the eight slot, where it entered the bracket last season due to a late-season loss to Woodstown. Both teams enter off shutout wins.

Woodbury (5-1) at Penns Grove (5-1), Saturday, noon – The Herd average a respectable 31.3 points per game, the Red Devils average 51.5. Expect plenty of points. Loser of this is likely on the road to begin the SJ Group 1 playoffs.

Haddonfield (5-1) at Cedar Creek (5-2), Saturday, 1 p.m. – Both enter eager to rid memories from last week’s rivalry games. The Haddons lost in OT to West Deptford and the Pirates got shutout by St. Joseph. With Sterling and Camden hot on their heels, the current projected three and four seeds need to win to maintain a home game in the SJ Group 2 bracket.